Barabanki: As Iran and Israel exchange missiles and drone attacks in a rapidly escalating conflict that has gripped global attention, few would imagine that a quiet village in Uttar Pradesh holds an intimate ancestral link to Tehran’s most powerful figures. Yet, nestled in the Sirouli Gauspur tehsil of Barabanki district, the village of Kintoor stands as a forgotten yet remarkable chapter in the geopolitical story of modern Iran.
Kintoor is the birthplace of Syed Ahmad Musavi, a devout Shia scholar born in 1790, whose descendants would go on to reshape Iran’s political and religious landscape. His lineage includes Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the architect of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and Ali Khamenei, the current Supreme Leader of Iran.
In 1830, Syed Ahmad Musavi left Kintoor at the age of 40, accompanying the Nawab of Awadh on a pilgrimage to Iraq. Instead of returning, he traveled onward to Iran and ultimately settled in the village of Khumein. In a nod to his Indian origin, he adopted the name “Hindi”—becoming known across Shia scholarly circles as Syed Ahmad Musavi Hindi.
His family remained steeped in religious scholarship, and decades later, his grandson Ruhollah Khomeini emerged as the leading voice of dissent against the Western-backed Pahlavi monarchy. In 1978, as protests against the Shah intensified, the Iranian regime tried to discredit Khomeini by branding him an “Indian agent” in a government newspaper. The smear campaign only fueled public fury, leading to the Shah’s downfall and the birth of the Islamic Republic in 1979. Khomeini became Iran’s first Supreme Leader. His successor, Ali Khamenei, also belongs to the same Musavi family line.
Back in Kintoor, this legacy is not merely a matter of history—it is a source of cultural pride and emotional connection. Village head Mohammad Akram expressed solidarity with Iran in the current crisis.
“Our loyalty is to India,” he said, “but emotionally, we stand with Iran. The U.S. and Israel are responsible for the civilian killings, and we strongly condemn that. Our spiritual and historical ties with Iran remain unbroken.”
Many families in Kintoor claim descent from the Musavi lineage. One such resident, Adil, believed to be a distant relative of the Khomeini family, declined to speak publicly but acknowledged the village’s deep-rooted spiritual link to Iran.
What began as a scholar’s spiritual journey from an obscure Indian village has become part of the political DNA of one of the most influential Islamic states in the world. As bombs fall in West Asia, the fields of Kintoor remain serene—but history quietly reverberates through its soil.
In a world often defined by fast-changing headlines, Kintoor’s enduring link to Iran is a reminder that global histories are shaped not only by armies and ideologies, but also by pilgrims, scholars, and the ancestral memories of places long forgotten.
